Saanane Changes Status First National Park in the City

From AllAfrica/Arusha Times, Arusha

After playing in the shadows of the vast Serengeti as an added destination for tourists on the former's program the Saanane Island of Mwanza is about to play its own fiddle.

The rocky island located on Lake Victoria is on the verge of becoming a full fledged National Park and according to the Arusha-based Tanzania National Parks Authority, the new status will take effect anytime in 2011.

Saanane which is being upgraded from its previous status as forest reserve and wildlife aclimatization zone, will increase the number of National Parks from the current 15 to 16 next year. It will be the second National Park to stride Lake Victoria, Africa's largest water body after Rubondo Island.

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